'They're A Bit Bonkers': What Fame Has Taught Tim Minchin About Famous People

When Tim Minchin relocated from London to LA a few years ago to work on a major Dreamworks production, one of the appealing factors of the move for the Aussie songwriter and comedian was escaping fame. 

The Perth-raised artist had obviously built a large fanbase at home in Australia and was only getting more popular in the UK. 

However, it wouldn't take long for the US to embrace Minchin and his work, especially when he featured in the sixth season of popular Showtime series, Californication, in 2013 where he played drug-riddled rockstar Atticus Fetch.

Appearing on a recent episode of The Green Room with Neil Griffiths podcast to promote his debut album, Apart Together, Minchin discussed both his experience in dealing with fame and famous people.

"I don't think I realised at the time how big a show [Californication] was," Minchin told host Neil Griffiths.

"I thought it was just a lark, you know?

"The whole thing about being an artist and being known is that other people's opinion of you becomes your source of self.

"...When you get known and you're aware that people on the street are looking at you, the camera of the self, like a fucking drone, drifts away and out from you. This is why famous people are nuts, right? It's not their fault.

"Your sense of self literally drifts away from you because you become aware pyschologically that people are looking at you and therefore you start seeing yourself through their eyes.

"Because you become very self aware and you're worried about how you look and worried about what people are saying... and then you become addicted to praise and critical success until if you take it away, you have no self esteem. 

"And it's not because actors are precious snowflakes, it's just because that breaks you psychologically."

During his 10-episode run on Californication, Minchin shared screen time with lead star David Duchovny and even real life rock star Marilyn Manson.

"When I worked with Marilyn Manson for example, he's a really great guy. But he's a bit bonkers. And he's bonkers 'cause he got famous," Minchin said.

'David [Duchovny] is a fantastic guy. He's managed to stay very rooted.

"And I think of other people I adore like Mel Chisholm and people who have got really famous. It doesn't matter how good they are. They're a bit bonkers. Well, they're just a bit fragile because their sense of who they are and why they're OK in the world has been taken off them and is now in everyone else's hands.

"Which is why you can be super famous and rich and when someone is mean about you on Twitter, it can really hurt because you've handed over your self esteem to the masses. Not by choice, you know?

"So, when I've met all these people and I've met Tom Cruise and Sandra Bullock and heaps of people, it's been brilliant, but it doesn't make me want to be more like them.

"It doesn't make me go, 'I wish I could live in a house like this one that I'm having dinner in', you know? It doesn't make me think, 'What I want is a massive gate and a security guard!'"

Listen to the full The Green Room episode with Minchin on Spotify, Apple Podcasts (below) or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.